Author Archives: bseat

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

Posted on June 28, 2013 by bseat

Chechnya in the mid 1990’s is a brutal war torn place. Sonja Rabina has returned there from studying in the US and now works in a small shell of what once was a large and busy hospital in her hometown. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Defending Jacob by William Landay

Posted on June 21, 2013 by bseat

What would you do to defend your son from allegations that he killed someone? What if you were a district attorney and it was your son who was the accused? In Defending Jacob Landay follows one family as they struggle … Continue reading →

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The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

Posted on June 14, 2013 by bseat

The Gods of Gotham is a police procedural set in 1845-just at the time when New York decides it needs a police force and the NYPD is born.  Timothy Wilde, the main character, was a barman but when his bar … Continue reading →

Posted in Detective novel, Historical Fiction | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Plainsong and Eventide by Kent Haruf

Posted on June 7, 2013 by bseat

Plainsong and Eventide by Kent Haruf are related novels about small town life in a fictional town called Holt, Colorado. Using this quintessentially American farming community as his base, Haruf examines what it means to be family and be connected … Continue reading →

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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

Posted on May 31, 2013 by bseat

On a farm in northern Wisconsin, Edgar Sawtelle lives with his parents, Gar and Trudy.  Born mute he communicates in sign language, helping his parents with the work on the farm and with the breeding and training of the famous … Continue reading →

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Broken Harbor by Tana French

Posted on May 24, 2013 by bseat

If you have not yet read Tana French you are in for a treat! After reading A Faithful Place a couple of years ago I was hooked, and each book I have read since has lived up to my expectations! … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Psychological Mystery | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

John Saturnall’s Feast by Lawrence Norfolk

Posted on May 17, 2013 by bseat

This book is a rich feast-a historical novel about a boy’s coming of age; rising from starving orphan to one of the most accomplished cooks of his age. Set in the 17th century against the backdrop of Cromwell and the … Continue reading →

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Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson

Posted on May 10, 2013 by bseat

According to anthropologists cooking literally changed our lives! Before we learned to cook people spent hours hunting and gathering food and ate it raw, and then, because raw food was not easily digested, we quickly got hungry and had to … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Dinner by Herman Koch

Posted on May 3, 2013 by bseat

Set in Amsterdam, The Dinner starts out simply-two brothers and their wives are meeting for dinner. But this dinner is no casual date night; they are meeting to discuss the horrific thing that their two sons have done and what … Continue reading →

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The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura and Translated by Satoko Izumo and Stephen Coates

Posted on April 26, 2013 by bseat

Most Japanese novels are difficult to relate to because there is an underlying fatalism that pervades most of these novels which creates a cultural barrier that is difficult for most Westerners to surmount.  The Thief by Nakamura is no exception … Continue reading →

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